The Viper's Nest
by screwsimplicity
Summary: Kurt and Sebastian meet again in New York City at an audition and even though Blaine's out of the picture now, they still hate each other as much as they did a year ago. But now they have to put on their game faces as they audition for the same part in "Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead." But what happens when they get cast as each other's romantic interest instead?
1. Prologue

**Warning(s): **Sex, drugs, alcohol, pyromania, slut-shaming, homophobia, bullying, rape/sexual abuse and suicide are all involved/mentioned in the _PLAY_ and will be touched on in the fic later on, but I'll let you know when.

**A/N: **Yes, I am writing another fic when I haven't finished any of the other's I've been writing or any prompts right before we have to go back to school. So what? This idea has been stuck in my head since my school did this show, and I just felt like I had to write it. So… yeah, tell me if it's worth continuing! And I suggest if you haven't already to find the script and read it online. It's literally so amazing. And with that, I am obliged to say that I do not own _Dog Sees God_ or Glee or any of that. All credits go to Bert V. Royal and Ryan Murphy. Happy Reading!

* * *

Kurt didn't expect to fall in love with the play.

But, then again, he didn't expect to be going to all of the quaint little bookstores around the city on a script hunt with Rachel. He didn't know he was going to find a worn little script with an ugly red cover in a stack of classic Shakespeare plays with a weird title that just begged you to open it up and see what it was about.

Kurt didn't exactly anticipate buying a script for a show about the Peanuts characters as teenagers that day. And he most certainly didn't expect to go home and cry over it once he was done reading it.

Though, he did expect the obsession that came after it. When Kurt loved something, he _loved_ it. He spent a lot of time watching videos of other people performing scenes from it, seeing which way they decided to portray certain parts.

He read it over and over until he had practically memorized it, trying to analyze every bit of subtext. It was what great actors did, wasn't it? They spent their careers figuring out everything they could about their characters, or what they were saying and everything in between.

That play actually helped him when he was assigned an in-depth analysis. It was easier for him to pick up on things in the text than some of the other students in his classes at NYADA.

But it was only a phase. After a while, he forgot all about the play and went on with his life, finding interest in other things and getting new experiences. It wasn't until Rachel came bursting through the door of their apartment one afternoon with 'exciting news' and a flyer for an upcoming audition for the show at a nearby theater when he remembered how much he wanted to be in it.

And that's what landed the duo in the small theater that cold evening in January, with a surprisingly large amount of people. Kurt didn't really expect this many people to show up. It wasn't a particularly popular show, but then again, it didn't matter if these people were fans.

It was a job. It was something to fill their free time. It put food on the table for some of these people, and he totally understood .

But for him, it was an experience. It was an opportunity.

He already had a job that he loved over at Vogue, so he wasn't going to auditions every day like some of these people were, which he was extremely grateful about.

Kurt had dragged Rachel along with him to the audition, knowing how she had been skipping out on auditions because 'no role would be as good for her as Evita' which she had auditioned for the month before and didn't get cast.

He thought it might give her a confidence boost and get her to actually do stuff so she could pay her half of the rent. But now that they were here, he regretted it.

As soon as he and Rachel got out of the line to give the stage manager their headshots and resumes to give to the director and received the sides to read over, he moved to a side of the lobby that was empty, feeling a bit claustrophobic from being swallowed be a mob of actors.

Kurt leaned against the wall with a sigh, taking advantage of the rare silence from his roommate to finally drink his coffee without the fear of someone knocking into him and spilling it all over his outfit. But as soon as he got a little taste of the non-fat mocha, Rachel started talking his ears off about things that she wouldn't have dared to say with the stage manager twenty feet away.

He tried to block her out as he nursed his coffee, glancing at the sides he got.

"There aren't any parts in this show that can showcase my talents properly!" Rachel mused, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I mean, the parts for women aren't very big! And even though I would obviously be perfect for _all _of them, it's kind of disappointing, don't you think?" she asked, looking at Kurt who was looking into space, sipping at the remnants of his drink.

"Are you even listening?" she asked, putting a hand on her hip, a clear sign that she was irritated. Kurt blinked, looking up at her with a dumbstruck expression on his face.

"You weren't listening!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up again. Kurt resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her dramatics for what was probably the millionth time throughout the course of their friendship.

"Sorry, Rach. I'm just… tired." he lied, offering her a shrug as he went to go throw his coffee cup away. Rachel followed behind him, glancing at her own sides.

"Would you mind reading through some of these with me?" she asked, throwing he own cup away, giving him a sweet smile. Kurt let himself roll his eyes this time, taking her papers to see what scenes they were.

"Sure," he agreed, walking with her back to their spot in the vacated corner of the lobby that seemed to be getting smaller and smaller as more people came in for the auditions.

He tore his eyes from everyone, feeling nervousness build up inside of him, and looked back at Rachel, taking a side from her.

They spent a good amount of their time running lines with each other, Kurt trying more or less to ignore the fact about how much_ competition_ there was, and how he probably didn't even have a chance of getting the part he wanted.

He didn't have a large resume, or a lot of experience, and he caught glances of guys that were probably raised in show business and looked the part of Beethoven better.

Sure, he could pull off the whole 'gay' look, but maybe that wasn't what the director was looking for. He had no idea. But he decided not to dwell on it as he practiced with Rachel. After a while, they even attracted the attention of some other actors, and they all practiced together.

In his mind, Kurt was casting everyone around him. In the little group he had joined, there were a couple of people that he would have cast on the spot. There was the modern day Shaggy from Scooby Doo, who would be Van, the pothead.

Then there was a girl wearing only Forever 21 with big, thick-rimmed glasses named Bonnie who seemed terribly outspoken by this girl she hung around that boasted about how great she was the whole time. He never caught that girl's name, but she reminded him of Rachel, which he would never admit out loud.

Kurt was having a pretty good time talking to them about the play, almost forgetting about all of the guys auditioning for the same part as him. That is, until someone he thought he had gotten rid of a long time ago strode through the door.

Sebastian Smythe.

* * *

**A/N:** Dun dun dunnnn. What will happen next? Okay, so there was going to be this whole first chapter but I got lengthy and as I publish this it's almost 4,000 words and I decided to fuck that and make a prologue. And I really felt like publishing today, but what was going to be the first chapter was like halfway done, sooo. Anyway, feel free to write a review and tell me what you think, and if I should continue!


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Next chapter's going to have what you're all waiting for; the Kurtbastian auditions including the kissing scene! Actually, there are two kissing scenes but you only get one. Sorry, lovelies! Gotta give some other actors the chance to smooch Kurtsie. Happy Reading!

Once again, I don't own _Dog Sees God_ or Glee. All characters or dialogue from the script belong to Bert V. Royal and Ryan Murphy.

* * *

There was no way.

There was no _fucking way that this was happening._

He blinked as Sebastian made his way through the slowly dissipating crowd, looking like he owned the place. He watched from the corner of his eye as the boy – much to his dismay – put his headshot and resume in front of the stage manager, shooting her a charming smile.

Kurt watched as the stage manager giggled over something Sebastian said before he shot her a wink and took his sides. He blanched as he started walking towards their clump, averting his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked, noticing her friend's distress, when her eyes landed on Sebastian. "Oh." she murmured, a scowl forming on her face.

Suddenly, he felt a hand clap on his back, making him jump a little. "Well, would you look here? It's Jew Nose Berry and Ol' Betty White."

The comment made Rachel huff, crossing her arms over her chest defensively, while Kurt heaved a sigh. He turned around to look at him, met with the same infuriating smirk that plagued he and Blaine's coffee dates only a short year before.

"And if it isn't the smirky meerkat himself," he replied, shooting him the fakest smile he could muster. "I would say it's nice to see you again, but it's really not." Kurt quipped, scrunching his nose a little.

The other people looked around awkwardly, obviously uncomfortable in the situation, which Sebastian seemed to notice.

"Where are my manners?" Sebastian asked, taking his hand off of Kurt to acknowledge the others, making Kurt visibly relax.

"Non-existent," Kurt muttered under his breath, making Rachel cover her smile with her hand. Sebastian shot him a look, but didn't seem offended. He seemed… amused.

"I'm Sebastian Smythe. Pleasure, I'm sure." he said, making a few girls giggle and roll their eyes.

"Like the crab?" Shaggy asked, looking the most amused out of everyone. And also a bit confused… "Is your sister named like… Ariel, or something?" he asked with a snort, causing Sebastian to roll his eyes this time.

"Wow, I haven't _heard _that one before, druggie. You might want to stop having Weedies for breakfast. The whole pothead look doesn't look good on you," he said, watching in delight at the horror broke out on Shaggy's face.

Everyone else looked at each other, growing more uncomfortable and a bit irritated. "So… uh, what part are you auditioning for?" Bonnie asked in a small voice, offering him a shy smile.

Sebastian shrugged, picking at his fingernails, looking pretty uninterested. "Beethoven, I guess." he replied.

Kurt's stomach plummeted. Of course he was auditioning for the same part as him. _Of course. _

He prayed to whatever deity was up there that Sebastian was a horrible actor and that the director was straighter than a pole with a wife and kids and wouldn't be swayed by Sebastian's charms.

"Really? Kurt's auditioning for Beethoven too!" Shaggy pointed out, shaking Kurt from his thoughts. He was just contemplating how he could strangle the guy without anyone noticing when Sebastian looked back at him with piercing green eyes.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" he asked, his smirk still in tact.

Kurt was just about to respond when the stage manager spoke up, telling everyone to be quiet. Beside her was who he assumed was the director, holding a few resumes in his hands.

"Hey everyone. I'd like to thank you all for showing up today. It was a bigger turnout than we expected, which is awesome!" he said with a grin, making a few people cheer.

"Now, here's how this is gonna go. Shannon here is gonna call your names and you're gonna get a number. That is the order in which you're gonna go. Everyone will get a change to read at least once and I will tell you if I want to keep you around to read again. All you have to do is listen for your number and do what she says. Thanks, guys."

And with that, he went into a room with the resumes, and the stage manager picked up her clip board, shutting everyone up again as she read through the names.

It didn't take as long as he expected it to take to call out everyone's names. There were only around forty-three people, even though it felt like a hundred. But it made Kurt feel better that there weren't as many people to compete for the role against than he thought.

He frowned when he was one of the last numbers along with Sebastian, not wanting to have to stay in the same room as him for however long it would take to get to their numbers.

Shannon called the first eight to wait in a line with only the monologues that they got, to make the first 'elimination process' go faster.

Somewhere in there, Sebastian had wandered away from their group, and found another one to inevitably bother.

"Good riddens," Kurt thought, holding onto a hope that they wouldn't talk to each other again throughout the audition process.

He spent his time while waiting going over the Beethoven monologue he had been given. It had been a while since he had read through the script, but he think he still knew this one by heart, which was good.

It really hit close to home when he thought about it. The whole character did. They were both bullied for being gay in a school where no one cared. Beethoven even mentioned saying that they tried to help, but inside they didn't really care about the student's mental wellbeing and that all counselors used the same line. And they both found solace in music.

Even though some things were worse for Beethoven than Kurt, he still really connected with him. He didn't exactly ever feel the pain of having his hands smashed into a piano, but he could imagine how horrible it must have felt and how it felt to have his dreams crash down around him. He had experienced that the day he got his letter from NYADA saying that he couldn't go and him reading it that his life was ruined and he was worthless and that he would never fulfill his dreams.

And he really hoped that the director would understand that.

Kurt watched as people trickled in and out of the room, some walking out the door and some staying. He felt a less nervous when he noticed that there were more people leaving than staying.

He also watched Sebastian for a little while there. He watched as he read a scene over with a girl that looked like a sixteen year old, trying to figure out if he was doing the one with an institutionalized Lucy or a Wiccan Sally. The actress wasn't doing a very good job at districting between the two, mostly just gawking at Sebastian or giggling at something charming he said.

The sight kind of made him want to throw something for some reason.

One time Sebastian caught him staring and merely flashed him a wink, making him blush against his will. He decided later that he was flustered only because he got caught staring for no apparent reason.

Rachel's number was called after about thirty minutes, which sucked because her number was closer to the beginning. He groaned as he thought about how long this might take if the director wanted to keep him there. He might be there for hours. But he would do it if that were what it took. It was just the thought of possibly having to stay around Sebastian for more time than necessary.

She was very excited when she came out, immediately finding Kurt to tell him how the director told her what a strong actress she was and that he wanted to put her somewhere.

This was another time where Kurt had to restrain from rolling his eyes because _of course_ that would happen to Rachel Berry. It always did; in Glee club, in her second NYADA 'audition', in the damned school itself, and everywhere. And though he still loved her to death, he wanted the spotlight too.

She continued to fill him in on the director and the assistant director and what their reactions were, but he started to tune her out when the conversation turned into how great she was.

It was then when he was the one who caught Sebastian looking at him. Sebastian stole a glance at Rachel, who was talking animatedly and back to Kurt, smirking at his obvious distress before turning back to the guy he was talking to – or, for all he knew, was hitting on.

Kurt was soon pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his number called to stand in line. He quickly escaped Rachel after grabbing his monologue from the stack he had made on the floor beside him, and waited for Shannon to tell him where to stand. He was the last person in line until Sebastian strode up beside him, leaning against the wall.

They stood in amicable silence for a little while, until Kurt couldn't take it anymore and spoke up.

"Why are you even _here_?" he asked; a question that had been on his mind since Sebastian walked through the door. The other boy raised an eyebrow at him, motioning to the paper in his hand.

"Auditioning. Obviously. I thought that your pea-sized brain would have been able to figure that out already," he said, plastering that stupid smirk back on his face.

"No, I… I _know_ you're auditioning. But why?" he asked, trying not to sound too desperate. Last he had heard from Blaine was that Sebastian was still reeking havoc in Ohio. But then again, it _had_ been a year. Things changed.

But he never expected to run into Sebastian Smythe of all people in a huge city like New York.

Sebastian shrugged, looking up at the ceiling. "It's a job," he said, echoing his thoughts from earlier. "Plus, it's actually a really interesting show. I had to read it for class," he added with another nonchalant shrug.

"It is," Kurt agreed quietly, trying not to sound too excited. Everyone else he had talked to hadn't read or heard of the show before. "Where do you go to school?" he asked, trying to sound uninterested but still decent enough to initiate small talk.

"NYU. Or more specifically… Tisch," he stated, tilting his head a little to show that he was superior. "You? Last I heard you didn't get accepted into that NYADA school," he inquired, saying the name of the school like it was dirt on the bottom of his shoe and not one of the best performing arts colleges in the nation.

"I got a second chance, and got in." he replied, feeling pride bloom in his chest. Anyone that was in show business knew that it was very rare to get a second chance, so whenever he told someone, they were pretty impressed. Sebastian, however, wasn't impressed in the slightest.

"I bet they're regretting that decision now." he quipped, looking at his fingernails like they were the most interesting things in the room.

Kurt opened his mouth to say something, but immediately closed it, deciding that this wasn't the best time or place to get in a bitch-off.

"Speechless?" Sebastian asked, "Yeah… I tend to have that affect on people."

Kurt snorted, and rolled his eyes. How was it even possible to be that cocky? "Maybe when you're shoving your dick into their mouth," he retorted, adding a little bite to his tone. He didn't tell himself that he couldn't be snarky.

"You say that like it's a bad thing, Princess." Sebastian replied, and as if on cue, the guy that he was talking to earlier came out of the audition room and Sebastian slapped his ass as he walked by, making Kurt pretend to gag.

"Do what you want, Sebastian, but _please_ don't shove it in my face," he practically begged, "or my mouth." he added.

"Gladly." he replied with a nod, signaling the end of the conversation.

They continued to stand in silence, waiting for their turn to go in and audition. Kurt read over his monologue a couple of times in his head, unaware of how his lips were moving and how Sebastian was staring at them.

Once Kurt glanced back at him, he quickly averted his eyes, and kept them glued on his own paper, which he noticed didn't have the Beethoven monologue on it, but he didn't take the time to look at it more fully to see which character's it was.

The next thing he knew, the girl in front of him came out and it was his turn to go in. He took a deep breath before stepping inside.

This room was bigger than he expected it to be. He wondered what exactly they used it for. He doubted it wasn't just for auditions, since it was such a big space.

Kurt walked over to the center of the room that was marked by neon pink gaff tape, and stood facing the two connected tables where the director and who he assumed was the assistant director were sitting.

He gave them a smile, which they both returned once they had looked up from where they were staring down at his resume and headshot.

"Slate please," the director said in a monotonous voice, like he had said it way too many times in his career.

"I'm Kurt Hummel, I'm nineteen years old, and I'll be auditioning for the role of Beethoven." he stated. The director nodded and they both opened to a new page in their notepads to write notes on his performance.

Kurt took a deep breath, only glancing down at his paper once before looking up at that imaginary person right above the director's head, pretending it was CB, who had just confessed everything he was feeling about his beloved dog being dead. He tried to imagine just how pissed off he would be if that happened while he was busy doing something. He recalled Finn barging in on his alone time to talk to him about Rachel, and how he'd just blow up at him over it.

"Well, it's just that you haven't spoken to me in years. Except to call me a 'faggot' or to dislocate my shoulder and all of a sudden I get a stream-of-consciousness monologue about your dead dog while I'm trying to spend the only moments of my day that don't truly _suck_." he felt himself get a little angry at that point, but tried to calm himself down. This part made the director look up at him and stop scribbling down notes – no doubt about his appearance – and actually look interested in what was going on.

"And, you see, there's some missing component to this conversation, other than an attentive listener. A segue, I suppose?" beat "Forgive my bluntness. Please don't hit me." Kurt added the last line quickly, knowing how Beethoven must have felt when he was afraid that anyone that was going to approach him wanted to hurt him. "But I could give two shits about you or your vacant mind or your morbid curiosities or your dead fucking dog, so why don't you just leave?" he asked, throwing his hands in the air, still holding the script.

The room was silent for a little while after that as both of the directors stared at him for a second, while nerves built up inside of Kurt. There wasn't any more to the monologue, so he wasn't sure what they were expecting him to say or do. Beethoven's monologues were usually short and to the point, so he wasn't sure why they were just staring at him like that.

After a moment, they started scribbling down more notes, and whispering to each other before looking back up at Kurt with smiles.

"Great job, Kurt. We'd like to keep you around to do a couple more scenes for Beethoven, if that's okay," Kurt didn't even have to think before he nodded eagerly, biting his lip to contain his grin.

"So just tell Shannon that, and she'll give you the scenes you'll need," he said, as Kurt nodded again. "Will you let the next person in?" he asked, and of course, Kurt nodded, not able to say much else because they were actually _interested_ in him. "Thanks."

Kurt walked out of the room with a little skip in his step, as he motioned for Sebastian to come inside.

"Took you long enough," Sebastian muttered as he brushed past him to go inside, closing the door behind him. Kurt just ignored the comment as he made his way over to Rachel, finally letting a grin spread from ear-to-ear.

"Kurt!" she exclaimed, meeting him in the middle. "Did they like you? Are you staying?" she asked, though she already knew by the look on his face. Before he could even open his mouth to reply she was squealing and jumping up and down excitedly.

After the squeals of excitement died down, he walked over to the stage manager, just as Sebastian walked out.

"Let me guess. Beethoven, right?" she asked, shooting him an oddly familiar smirk.

"Yep." he replied, trying to figure out what seemed familiar about her.

She looked like she was in her mid-twenties, but was still very beautiful. He wondered why she wasn't the lead of some hit Broadway musical or walking the runways in Milan by now.

She wore her long dirty blonde hair in a messy bun on top of her head, wearing a plain t-shirt and jean combo with torn up sneakers. Shannon glanced up at him from under her thick-rimmed glasses, with piercing green eyes, before darting them back to the stacks of papers on the small table.

As soon as Sebastian walked up to the table, it hit him like a ton of bricks.

She went through her stack of papers, naming each scene as she gave them to him. "'The Viper's Nest', 'Nocturne', 'Mal Di Luna'… basically all of the CB and Beethoven scenes… and well, just look over 'Dear CB'. Not everyone's going to be in that one," she said, handing them all to him. "That's it. Now, what will happen is I'll call the –"

"CB and Matt." Sebastian interrupted, jumping up on her table to sit on it, almost making her coffee cup fall over. Shannon scrambled to grab the cup before it fell and rolled her eyes at Sebastian almost…. fondly. "Cool your jets, baby brother. You'll get your turn."

Kurt blanched. Of course they were related.

And now Sebastian had an even bigger chance of getting in and he swore if he got in and he had to be in it with Sebastian… well, let's just say that someone's balls will get cut off by the end of the show.

Sebastian looked over at him and smirked that infuriating smirk. "I didn't even know that it was possibly to turn that white, Casper." he quipped, but Kurt ignored him as he looked between them, finding each and every similarity and difference between them.

"Sorry for that," she said as she looked back at him with a sweet smile. "Ignore him. He's always like this."

"Oh, I know." Kurt muttered, making Sebastian chuckle.

Now it was Shannon's turn to look between them, dumbstruck.

"You two know each other?" she asked.

"Unfortunately." Kurt replied, rolling his eyes.

Shannon looked between them again, her jaw slightly ajar. "Awkwaaard." she sing-songed, before turning back to Kurt. "Alright, so once the director makes his list of people he wants to see do scenes together and gives it to me, I'll call your numbers and you'll wait in line, just like last time. Okay?"

Kurt nodded again and went off to find Rachel to tell her about his latest discovery.

Rachel didn't seem as shocked as he thought she would be. She told him that lots of people auditioned for shows with people they knew with high statuses in the show to better their chances of getting in. That little bit of common knowledge didn't make him feel any better.

Again he wondered what kind of drugs he was on when he made Rachel Berry his best friend.

It wasn't too long after that that the director – who he learned was named Max Armand and was referred as brilliant on several occasions – came out with a list and handed it to Shannon. Everyone in the room already knew now that they needed to be quiet even before she started shushing them.

"Okay guys. First up is Rachel Berry and Samantha Eugene with 'Spork'. Rachel as Marcy and Samantha as Tricia."

Rachel grinned as she shoved the rest of her sides in Kurt's hands as she made her way up to the front of the line next to a rather tall blonde wearing what could only be described as stripper heels, making her at least five inches taller as she towered over Rachel.

Kurt couldn't help but laugh as he took in the height difference, muffling his laughter behind his hand as she stood up straighter in an attempt to look taller.

Shannon kept reading out names of people and their scenes, calling a few people more than once. He looked around and noticed how there was a significantly smaller amount of people now than there was two hours ago. Then he realized that at least half of the people in the room were going to be cast.

"Sebastian Smythe and Kurt Hummel with 'The Viper's Nest'. You boys know who you are." she said, flashing a wink in his general direction. It was then when he noticed that somewhere in there, Sebastian had moved to stand next to him, making him jump a little.

Kurt got put in two scenes with another guy to play CB, but – much to his dismay – got paired up with Sebastian for two more.

"Now, Max gave everyone a chance to do four scenes each, but he decided to make it even and give you all five. So, once all of the other scenes are done, he's going to narrow it down to two people he is considering to cast for each role."

This comment made people start whispering to each other, getting more anxious by the minute.

"But since this isn't a perfect world, and there are eighteen of you left instead of sixteen, two of you are not going to be in the final scene. And yes, this means that you will not be cast. Sorry. This isn't the time where if you don't get a callback, it doesn't mean you're not in the show. You're not. Now, Max is still deciding whether or not he'll need understudies for every part or now, so we'll most certainly be in touch with most of you if not all of you. So we will make sure you'll be involved."

Again, more whispering commenced. Shannon cleared her throat to get everyone to be quiet before she continued.

"So, once he has decided the two people for each part, he will split you into two groups to do 'Dear CB'. And if you haven't already guessed, Max is very indecisive, so he might need to switch people around in the groups, so cancel any dinner reservations you have now, just in case," she said, making everyone chuckle.

"But seriously, guys, he wants this cast to be perfect so he will make as many adjustments as he needs to so he can cast tonight. He needs to see his final cast before the cast list goes up. So, for most of you, you all have a fifty percent chance of getting in. And with that, break a leg!"

* * *

**A/N: **Reviews are the chicken soup to my soul!


	3. Chapter 2

**Warning(s):** Suggestions of sexual harassment/rape by a parent

It's what you've all been waiting for... I would have loved to write one of the other scenes Kurt and Sebastian are in together, but this got lengthy really fast. So expect all of that in the next chapter. Happy Reading!

Once again, I don't own _Dog Sees God_ or Glee. All characters or dialogue from the script belong to Bert V. Royal and Ryan Murphy.

* * *

Kurt really didn't want to have to do this.

He did not want to do the romantic Beethoven and CB scenes with Sebastian Smythe of all people. And he didn't want Sebastian to have a fifty percent chance of getting in the show if Kurt had the same chance of getting in.

"Alright, Hummel. Are we gonna rehearse this or what?" Sebastian asked, pulling Kurt from his thoughts of shipping Sebastian off to Uganda.

"Guess we might as well have to," Kurt replied, sighing as he sifted through his paper's to grab the scene that they were doing first; the one where CB crashes in on Beethoven's private practice time during lunch to tell him about his dead dog.

They went through the scene as quickly as possible to get a feel of it, not looking up from their papers to interact with each other the whole time. Rachel and her partner were just coming out when they were done with their first scene, so with the least amount of conversation as possible, they agreed to read through it a few more times before they called in.

After the third time around, there were still three pairs of actors in front of them, so they split, and Kurt went and met his other CB; a very attractive blonde named Victor that Kurt remembered as the guy Sebastian was flirting with the entire time.

They made their way through their two scenes a few times with no problem, and Kurt found that it was easier to act off of Victor than Sebastian. So he held on to a little bit of hope that if he got cast, Victor would be his CB. He wouldn't mind kissing him one bit. Speaking of kissing...

"Hey, you know what I think would really wow the director?" Kurt asked, biting his lip to contain a smile.

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"We should really kiss at the end. I don't think anyone else here is doing it, and it will give him a chance to show him how flexible we can be, and how easy it will be for us to trust each other enough to do it every night," he explained, crossing his fingers behind his back. "If... if you're comfortable with that, of course." he added quickly, just in case.

Victor grinned and nodded. "That's fine. I can do that," he assured, puffing his chest out just slightly. "How about we practice now?" he asked, ducking his head shyly even though he could tell that he wasn't shy about it at all.

"Sure." Kurt squeaked out. Before they knew it, they were leaning in, slowly moving closer and closer... so _close_ -

"Kurtbastian, get in line!"

Kurt heaved a sigh and pulled away from Victor, giving him an apologetic smile before going over to stand in line once again. He wondered if it was in the Smythe family genes to be a cockblock, or if they both were just naturals at being annoying and wrecking moments.

"'Kurtbastian', really? Why does his name have to go first?" Sebastian practically whined as he made his way up to his sister.

"Because 'Sebkurt' sounds stupid." Shannon retorted with a shrug.

"Well, 'Kurtbastian' does too," Sebastian replied, leaning against the table. "Admit it."

Shannon heaved a sigh, blowing a stray piece of hair out of her face, crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine. They both sound stupid. Now get in line." she said, nodding towards where Kurt was standing and trying to ignore the conversation about their couple name.

Sebastian walked over without any argument, standing closer to Kurt than he would have liked.

"I know that you don't have a sense of personal space, but I do. So if you'll kindly just move, that'd be great." Kurt said, not even looking up from his paper.

Sebastian merely chuckled in response, inching away only a little bit so that he was still in Kurt's personal space bubble. Kurt didn't say anything about it, he just stood as still as possible so he wouldn't have to touch the other boy, reading over the scene.

A few more people were called as they joined the line behind them, while they took the place of the people in front of them as they went in. The closer they got to the audition room, the butterflies flying around in his stomach multiplied.

Kurt didn't notice until they moved to the front of the line that Sebastian had took his hand and was squeezing it tightly.

If the whole hand holding thing didn't catch him off guard, Sebastian's face certainly did.

He looked a lot more nervous than Kurt probably did. He was paler than usual, constantly nibbling his lip, and his palms were notably sweaty. It was kind of off-putting that the all-confident Sebastian Smythe was nervous about an audition.

Sebastian looked down at him when he noticed him staring, and then his gaze fell to their connected hands. He pulled his away quickly, wiping his hand on his jeans, murmuring a "sorry."

"S'okay." Kurt murmured back, wiping his own hand on his pants without thinking.

Before they knew it, the pair before them was coming out, telling them both to break a leg before walking back into the lobby.  
Kurt swallowed thickly before looking back at Sebastian to see if he was ready to go in. Sebastian gave him a nod, before motioning for Kurt to go in before him.

He slowly walked back into the room, clutching his paper tightly in his hand. The room was a bit smaller now that they moved a few chairs, a table, and a small electronic piano off to the side.

"Hey guys," Max greeted with that infectious smile on his face, making both boys calm down just a little and smile back at him. "Now, Kurt, I noticed that on your resume it says that you can sight read. Is that correct?"

Kurt nodded, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him.

"Well, now, you don't have to, but we'd like you to play a little bit during the scene when it says to, if that's not a problem for you, of course."

"No! That's fine. I can do that," he said, smiling softly at him. Max smiled back as the assistant director scribbled something down.

"Great. Just, set up whatever you need, and start whenever you feel ready. Okay, guys?" he said, causing them to nod obediently and go at putting everything up.

Kurt pulled the piano to the middle, making sure it didn't unplug itself, while Sebastian put a chair behind it, and one beside it for him to sit. Once they got situated, Sebastian and Kurt stood next to each other in front of the table and slated.

Once they were finished, Kurt sat down at the piano, while Sebastian moved off to the side so he could walk in and start the scene.

Kurt put his script on the music stand in front of him beside the sheet music for Chopin's "Prelude #4 in E Minor Op. 28/4" for him to play at the beginning and "Heart and Soul" to play at the end.

Kurt put his fingers on the keys, glanced up at the music, and started to play. Sebastian walked on and stood to the side, directing the monologue to his audience as he pretended to continue writing a letter to his penpal.

"I heard a song. The song was simple. Much more simple than what he usually played. I was passing by the music room when I heard it," he got silent, listening to the music.

"I don't know if Fredric Chopin had a dog, but maybe he did? And maybe he wrote that song because his dog died, too," he thought about it for a moment, before shrugging.

"I don't know… Maybe." he murmured, pretending to walk into the music room, getting lost in the song. Kurt pretended not to know Sebastian was there as he got lost in playing the song, until he heard Sebastian start sniffling, and let out a sob.

Kurt quickly turned around to find the source of the noise, tensing up when he saw Sebastian, who tried to pull himself together.

"You're not supposed to be in here. I have permission to practice during lunch. But nobody else is supposed to be in here." he said quickly, throwing his defenses up out of habit, like Beethoven would have done when he saw someone who bullied him, not quite meeting his eye.

Sebastian wiped his eyes quickly with the back of his hand. "You've gotten really good. I mean, you always were, but — who wrote that? Beethoven?" he asked.

"Chopin." Kurt replied, looking back at the keys on the piano, wringing his hands in his lap.

"Do you mind if I just listen for a little while?" Sebastian asked, looking sheepish. Kurt sucked his bottom lip in his mouth an nodded, turning back to the piano to resume playing.

"God. This is really embarrassing," he paused, taking the seat next to him, not looking up at him as he quietly played.

"My dog died. He got rabies. They, um, had to put him under." he looked up then, waiting for any kind of reaction from Kurt, but he didn't get one. Kurt just kept playing, chewing on his lip every now and then as Sebastian continued with his monologue about his dead dog.

"I looked up rabies on the internet. It's an acute viral infection. It's transmitted through infected saliva… I guess he must have been bitten by something that had it. Maybe a fox or a raccoon. Bats can have it too." Out of the corner of his eye, Kurt could see Sebastian doing little fidgety things, a little taken aback at how into it he was, and how progressively more upset he got.

"It travels from the bite to the spinal cord and the brain. Then the victim gets a really high fever and uncontrollable excitement, then spasms of the throat muscles. That's what causes them to salivate. They can't swallow water. Another word for the infection is 'hydrophobia,' which of course means 'fear of water.' God… can you imagine not being able to swallow? That must suck." he explained, looking back at Kurt for another reaction, who only gave him a slight nod, staring down at the keys.

Kurt felt himself start to get more annoyed at having his day ruined by someone who kept talking about how rabies worked.

"It's weird," he breathed out, running a hand through his hair as he started to ramble.

"We had him vaccinated when he was a puppy; guess it doesn't always work," beat. "We had a funeral for him. Well, my sister and me did. I think I was supposed to say something, but I couldn't think of anything to say. I just stood there, frozen, like an idiot," he let out a self-deprecating chuckle at that, tugging gently at the roots of his hair.

"My brain went numb and that's never happened to me before. I mean, there's always something going on up there, right? Even in the subconscious. People meditate to clear their minds. I don't get that. I don't ever want to have a clear mind again," he looked down at his lap, looking down at his hands.

"I guess I was thinking by burying him, that I'd have some closure or feel his presence there or something and I didn't and that just freaked me out, so I don't know. I mean, have you ever had someone close to you die and you can't stop thinking about them and w-what's happened to them?" he choked out, tears gathering in both his and Kurt's eyes because that line really hit him.

Kurt started to play louder as Sebastian continued going off about death, feeling an intense emotion bubble up inside of him.

"It's like you're stuck in this morbid place and there's so much death that you feel like your head is going to explode and it makes you think that you're not even there. That maybe you're dead, too."

With that final line, Kurt smashed his hands down on the keyboard, making a cacophonous chord, breathing heavily.  
Sebastian whipped his head around to look at him, with actual tears in his eyes that threw Kurt off of a second. "What?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Well, it's just that you haven't spoken to me in years. Except to call me a 'faggot' or to dislocate my shoulder a-and all of a sudden I get a stream-of-consciousness monologue about your dead dog while I'm trying to spend the only moments of my day that don't truly _suck,_" he was about to slam his hands down again, when he stopped himself, trying to calm down as rage boiled low in his gut.

"And, you see, there's some missing component to this conversation, other than an attentive listener. A segue, I suppose?" he asked as Sebastian blinked back tears, throwing his own walls back up around him after his moment of vulnerability.

"Forgive my bluntness. Please don't hit me. But I could give two shits about you or your vacant mind or your morbid curiosities or your dead fucking dog, so why don't you just leave?" he asked, with a raised voice, motioning towards the direction where Sebastian came in.

It took a moment for Sebastian to let all of that sink in before he started to defend himself. "I never dislocated your shoulder!"

Kurt scoffed, shaking his head. "According to my doctor, you did. In shop class last spring, you twisted my arm behind my back and told me that you wouldn't let go until I said that— and I quote — 'I like to get it up the ass.'" Kurt practically spat out, feeling his throat start to close up.

"I was just playing around with you," Sebastian said, actually sounding sincere about it on more than one level. Kurt was still butthurt over the whole rock-salt slushie dilemma, so he decided to bring the emotions he felt when Sebastian apologized, telling him it was just meant to ruin his clothes and not to blind his ex-boyfriend.

"That makes me feel a lot better! At least I know it was all in good fun," he said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Now I remember… through my screaming and the searing pain, I definitely recall hearing laughter. Anyway I can contribute to the fun of the group…" he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Sebastian shook his head, trying to assure Kurt of the facts that he had been reassured of constantly. "We were just messing with you." he tried.

Kurt kept shaking his head, feeling chest start to ache. "Fuck you, CB!" he practically screamed in Sebastian's face, watching as his eyes widened as he stood up, not picking up his paper.

"I'd rather you say 'we beat the shit out of you because we can't stand you' than to say you're just 'messing' with me!" he explained, raising his voice to an obnoxiously high level.

"That implies light teasing or slightly opprobrious behavior. I… I haven't had lunch in the cafeteria in two and a half years for fear of going home with some part of it smeared across my shirt!" he choked out, feeling tears prick in his own eyes.

"I haven't been in a bathroom on campus since the time my head got slammed into the wall… I believe you were there." Kurt accused, pointing a finger at him.

"I didn't do that!" he yelled back, shooting out of his own chair and getting defensive.

"Yeah?! Well, you didn't stop it either! And the faculty doesn't care. You know what I'm so sick of hearing?" he asked, not waiting for a reaction before continuing, using an obnoxiously high, too-sweet sounding voice, similar to that of a certain ginger he used to know.

"'They only pick on you because of their own insecurities.'" he scoffed, "The classic guidance counselor line! 'Oh geez, Mrs. Blank, since you put it that way, my head doesn't hurt so much anymore!' And what really kills me is that everybody wonders why kids bring guns to school and shoot you fuckers down." he pointed at him again, scowling. The silence filled up the room rather quickly as Kurt tried to calm himself down, willing himself not to cry. Not now.

"Maybe you're not the bully, but you stand idly by and watch. In my eyes that makes you even worse. So – Please. Just. Go." he choked out, turning his head so he wouldn't have to look at him.

Sebastian stammered, trying to think of something to say, "Maybe if you didn't act so –" he was cut off by Kurt spinning back around to look at him, pretty sure his whole face was red.

"What? What, CB? How do I act?" he asked, throwing his hands in the air.

Sebastian hesitated before answering, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well… Gay. "

Kurt frowned, glaring at him. "And how does one act gay?" he asked, sure that he had asked this question way too many times before.

"By playing the piano?" he asked when he didn't receive a reply from Sebastian, walking around the piano, sliding his hand over it, before smashing on the keyboard once again.

"Oh, it must be all those times I ogle the football team. Maybe I'll stop carrying around a pink purse. Or openly sucking dick in plain view of the entire student body!" Kurt yelled, throwing his hands up again, getting fed up.

"What?! What is it?!" he asked desperately, stepping closer so Sebastian could clearly see the tears threatening to spill.

Sebastian took a step back as Kurt got closer, trying to act like the better person in the situation, even though they both knew he wasn't'. "You're being hostile and I'm just trying to talk to you like a civilized –"

"I don't want to talk to you!" Kurt practically screamed, laughing hysterically, pulling at his hair, not even caring that he ruined his perfect coif.

"I just want to be left alone! I don't need social pointers. All I need from you is an apology for the five minutes that you've stolen from my day!"

"See, _this_ is why you don't have any friends." Sebastian shot back.

"I think we both know why I don't have any friends," Kurt choked out, pursing his lips.

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic!"

"You're in here crying about a dead dog and _I'm_ being melodramatic?!" he asked, letting out an incredulous laugh.

"Just shut the fuck up about my dog, okay?" Sebastian said, getting defensive again.

"Or what? You'll hit me? Go ahead," he spat out, walking back around the piano to get up in his face, adrenaline rushing through his veins.

"I'll show you how people get hurt and don't run away to cry like a big fuckin' baby." Kurt said, not hesitating to start shoving him.

He's had it.

At that point, he and Beethoven were so fucking done.

Done with bullies, done with high school, done with CB.

Done with Sebastian, done with Rachel, done with the pompous know-it-alls at NYADA and Vogue, done with cockblocking Shannon… just done with everything.

After a few more shoves and a few hits to the chest with Sebastian even flinching or moving, he started laughing. Like, not fake laughing. Honest-to-god laughing. "What's so funny, asshole?" he asked, his voice an octave lower, which only fueled Sebastian's laughter.

"I'm sorry. Nothing." Sebastian lied, holding his stomach while trying to calm down.

"I don't see anything to laugh at." he said, his fists still clenched by his sides.

Sebastian wiped tears off of the corner of his eyes, his laughter dying down. "It's just that I was scared of you for, like, a second," he chortled.  
Kurt couldn't help but join in on the laughter, unclenching his fists. It was stupid of him to think that he could actually stand up for himself, and actually scare a guy like Sebastian… er, CB.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, wiping his own tears away, sniffling a little.

Sebastian shook his head, "No, it's okay. I deserved it." he admitted, looking up at him under his eyelashes.

"Promise me you won't bring a gun to school." Sebastian said after a beat, clearing his throat before shoving his hands in his pockets.

Kurt shook his head and shrugged, "I don't know where to get one," he admitted, in a small voice.

Silence settled between them, as they both shuffled around awkwardly before Kurt spoke up, looking up at him with big eyes.

"You were one of my best friends. You all were. I just... I don't get it," he said, running a hand through his hair.

Sebastian frowned, looking guilty as he shoved his hands further inside his pockets. "It's no consolation, but – well, can I be honest?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Sebastian sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face before replying. "No one knew what to say to you after your dad got arrested... It was awkward."

Kurt swallowed thickly, trying to surpress images of what Beethoven's dad might have done to him. "It was more awkward for me." he muttered.

"I'm sorry we weren't there for you," Sebastian said, biting his lip. Kurt could practically see guilt clawing away at his insides... for more than one things, he was sure.

"That means a lot." Kurt replied, offering him a sad smile.

"See, now you're being sarcastic again." Sebastian accused, furrowing his eyebrows.

Kurt raised an eyebrow at him, shaking his head. "No, I wasn't."

Sebastian chuckled, running a hand through his hair again, out of habit. "Oh... well, it's hard to tell with you."

Kurt hummed in agreement, chuckling softly, rolling his eyes almost... fondly. But it wasn't because neither Sebastian nor Kurt knew each other very well... and CB and Beethoven weren't as close.

Sebastian looked at him for a long moment, smiling softly before extending his hand out towards Kurt. "Truce?"

Kurt stared at his hand curiously, raising an eyebrow as he looked from his hand, back up at Sebastian. "I wasn't fighting a war... but okay. Truce." he said, before shaking his hand politely.

Their hands stayed together for longer than expected, before CB awkwardly pulled his hand away.

"Are you-?" Sebastian began to ask, before Kurt cut him off. They both knew what he was going to ask.

"I... I don't know. I've never had sex, so it would be hard to say at this point." Kurt replied, shrugging a shoulder, glancing back at him.

"But what about-?"

"My dad?" Kurt asked, frowning as he felt his stomach plummet. He shook his head, not looking at him as he leaned against the piano.

"I don't think that's considered sex," he muttered, staring down at the floor.

The room stayed silent for a long time, only the sound of Kurt's breathing could be heard, as he shut his eyes tightly, trying not to think about the situation his character would have been in to cause his father to go to jail.

"Do you remember how my dog used to howl whenever you played the piano?" Sebastian asked gently, breaking the silence as his fingers hovered over the keys.

Kurt opened his eyes, looking at Sebastian. "Yeah. I always found it pretty insulting," he said with a broken chuckle.

Sebastian chuckled lightly, rolling his eyes. "He was singing along," he said pulling his chair over closer to the piano sitting backwards as he rested his chin on the thing, looking at Kurt.

"What do you think happens to pets when they die?" he asked as Kurt sat down, biting his lip.

Kurt offered him a sad smile. "They go to heaven." he said simply.

"You believe in heaven?" Sebastian asked, a little shocked.

"Sure," he said with a shrug. "There has to be some reward for having to live through this." he murmured, biting his lip.

Though Kurt wasn't a firm believer in God himself, and that it was easier to believe that you just become worm food when you die, he could see where Beethoven was coming from.

It would be nice to be able to believe that he would go to heaven when he died, where God would be waiting for him at the all-famed pearly gates to tell him that he was proud of him, and that he was still allowed to go in. But he didn't.

"And you think there are animals there? In heaven?" Sebastian asked, looking hopeful.  
K

urt sighed, giving him a painfully sad smile. "'The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, and the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child will put his hand into the viper's nest.'"

"But... my dog killed a living thing, Beethoven. Wouldn't God be mad?" Sebastian asked, tilting his head to the side innocently.

Kurt let out a shaky sigh. "He was sick, CB. He couldn't help it." he replied, shutting his eyes for a moment. Kurt always thought that Beethoven was referring to both Snoopy and his father at that point, which just made the whole scene that much more depressing.

He opened his eyes and looked up at Sebastian, who looked absolutely depressed. Kurt kind of wanted to give him a hug, but he refrained. "You know they say a dog sees God in his master. A cat looks in the mirror," he joked, smiling softly when he got Sebastian to smile.

Sebastian shook his head and chuckled, looking up at the ceiling. "I fucking hate cats."

"Me too." Kurt chuckled. Sebastian stared at him for a long moment and smiled a real, genuine smile, making Kurt's heart stutter in his chest for some reason.

Sebastian stood up, and dragged his chair over to set beside Kurt's, motioning for him to move over so he had room. Kurt chuckled and rolled his eyes as he moved, watching as Sebastian looked at the sheet music for "Heart and Soul" and started playing the bass part, shooting a grin in Kurt's direction.

Kurt couldn't help but smile back, searching his face before joining in on the treble part. Sebastian started to hum along with the song as he banged on the notes, obviously not finding this as easy as Kurt did.

Sebastian stopped after a while, prompting Kurt to as well. He looked at the older, paler boy for a long moment, his eyes shooting to Kurt's lips.

He felt his heart start to pound erratically in his chest. They didn't talk about actually kissing. Sebastian never told him he was going to kiss him. He hoped that the director would stop the scene there when he noticed how long this was taking, but he didn't.

Suddenly, Sebastian swooped in, and took his face in his hands, crashing their lips together.

Kurt squeaked in surprise once their lips met, but soon he found himself kissing back, just for a moment.

The kiss was fleeting, because once Sebastian realized what he did, he pulled away. Soon, he scrambled out of his chair, and stormed out and off to the side, while Kurt was just left to look confused. He wasn't even acting. He was genuinely confused... and a bit out-of-sorts.

The silence filled the room once again as Kurt stole a glance at the table where Max and his assistant director sat. They were pretty much gawking at the two of them. It took them a moment to regain their composure, and Kurt was pretty sure he heard sniffles, as they sifted through papers, and scribbled down notes.

Sebastian walked over to him, and held out his hand for him to take. Kurt looked at it for a moment, still a bit dazed before taking it and standing up.

"That was... that was great, guys. Fantastic work." Max praised, grinning at both of them. The assistant director nodded in agreement, chewing on the cap of her pen.

"Thank you," Kurt and Sebastian said the same time, looking at each other before chuckling and looking away. Max looked between them, and his smile grew when he noticed that they were holding hands again.

This time it was Kurt to pull his hand away, kind of feeling weird about the whole hand holding thing now.

"We can't wait to see your next scenes. Tell the next people that they can come in in a few minutes. Wendy here will tell them when to come." he instructed, and the boys both nodded.

"Thanks again," Max said as they grabbed their papers from where they left them, and walked out of the room.  
Sebastian told the pair behind them to wait before going in as Kurt scurried out, trying to find Rachel to tell her what happened. He stopped him before he could get too far though.

"Jesus, Hummel. Slow down a second, will ya?" he asked, rushing to meet him.

"I know you're begging to tell your little girl friend about how much of a good kisser I am, but I want to tell you something." he said, making Kurt stop in his tracks.

"What?" he asked, sure that he was blushing just because of the comment.

"You... you weren't half bad." Sebastian said, offering him a half-smile. Kurt rolled his eyes and nodded.

"You weren't bad either." he said with a shrug, smiling softly. Sebastian opened his mouth to say something else, when none other than Victor walked over.

"Hey, guys! How did you do?" he asked, mostly looking at Sebastian as he talked. Kurt noticed Sebastian's real smile faded a little, a fake one taking it's place.

"I think we did pretty well." Sebastian replied with a shrug.

"Awesome! Well, now that you've had your turn... I'd like to take Kurtie here back to practice." Victor said, now looking at Kurt to wink at him, making his whole face turn red.

"Go ahead. But we need to meet up to do our 'scene' later." Sebastian quipped, taking his turn to wink.

"Sure thing, big boy, Victor replied, looping Kurt's arm with his. "See you later." he said, before pulling Kurt off without another word.

Kurt didn't object, but he wasn't too happy with having to be pulled away so soon. He stole a glance back at Sebastian, and he swore he could see him looking back, with that same depressed look on his face as he did earlier.

If he felt a little bit sad for Sebastian at that point, he would never admit to it.

* * *

**A/N: **Feel free to review and tell me your favorite part!


	4. Chapter 3

**Warning(s):** Homophobia, suggestions/mentions of violence, triggering flashbacks

**A/N: **Yeah, I haven't updated in a while. And I even updated this on Tumblr a week ago, but then I went to New York and forgot so uhh here you go! Happy Reading!

* * *

Kurt's head was still spinning after he and Sebastian's kiss.

It wasn't the kind of top-of-the-world sensation that he felt after kissing Blaine for the first time that fateful day in one of the Dalton common rooms. No, it was more like a what-the-fuck-just-happened-I'm-gonna-puke sort of feeling. Luckily, he was able to keep his lunch down as he went in to do the same scene with Victor only minutes later.

The scene wasn't really... what he expected, to put it lightly.

You would think that someone as attractive as Victor - who probably had both women and men throwing themselves at him constantly, because, to be quite honest, it looked like his face was carved by angels or something - would be a good kisser, right?

Wrong.

It was safe to say that when he walked out of the audition room, he had the other boy's saliva all over his mouth. To be honest, the whole experience reminded him of Nationals 2011 and the infamous T-Rex eating the Jew incident that ensued, causing them to lose horribly. The very thought horrified him deep down to his soul.

Something in him was hoping that the blonde was choosing to attack his mouth as an admittedly, very odd character choice, but that was highly unlikely since the playwright didn't specifically say that they two had to try to eat each other. The show was pretty messed up, but not _that _messed up. He was torn out of his thoughts about what would have happened if the director hadn't cut them off mid-tongue wrestling when Victor started talking.

"You know, you're an awesome kisser." the blonde said, flashing him a wink. Kurt was frozen for a moment, not really sure how to respond. He expected a comment about how well their performance went - it was actually pretty good, despite the kiss - and maybe even a compliment about his own performance. Sebastian, who was, in his eyes, the most horrendously douchey person he ever had the displeasure of meeting, had done it. So why couldn't he?

"You too." Kurt lied, offering him a smile, as he blocked out any thoughts of Sebastian that could be considered not-so douchey. He offered Victor a smile, hoping that he would go away so he could attempt to wash all the dried spit off of his mouth without offending the other boy. The back of his hand or his sleeve were not options.

"I know. I've been told as much." he boasted, puffing his chest out a bit. The face that was a gift from the gods suddenly looked very childlike, and too proud and not very attractive at all. Kurt held back a laugh as he imagined Victor as a kid on the playground, telling the little boys about his escapades with other little girls, impressing everyone. But Kurt wasn't very impressed.

Kurt rolled his eyes at the other boy before turning around to see where Rachel was, when he saw Sebastian standing behind him. His tall figure was hunched over slightly, and he was kneading his hands together, almost nervously. Honestly, he looked quite awkward. Of all the times Kurt had seen him, he had always been composed, so it kind of threw him off to see him looking so out of place.

"Yes, Sebastian? What is it?" he asked, like he was talking to a child, except he probably sounded a little too annoyed. Sebastian didn't reply for a moment, instead he found his eyes on his swollen, spit-covered lips, and in a split second that stupid smirk was back on his own lips.

The same lips that had been on his only a little while ago, and had tasted so nice, and were so, _so_ fleeting…

"We have to do our next scene." Sebastian replied smoothly, regaining his composure as he brought Kurt back to reality. Kurt furrowed his eyebrows, glancing back over at the line.

"Already? But, there are like, four more in between the one I just did and ours." Kurt said, motioning towards the pairs waiting anxiously for their turn to wow the director with their boundless acting abilities.

"The director wanted to see us early," Sebastian said, shrugging, the awkwardness taking over again. It was starting to make Kurt uncomfortable. "I don't know. That's what Shannon said." he added, nodding his head over at the girl, who looked like she was texting someone something important. She had a small smile on her face, but kept darting her eyes up to make sure that no one was peeping.

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with," Kurt said, letting out a heavy sigh before turning back to Victor. "I'll see you later, Victor." he said, not really promising anything. The blonde boy just gave him a nod and a wink, before stalking over to a group of girls that had been ogling him since they walked out of the audition room.

As soon as Kurt turned back towards him, Sebastian turned on his heel started making his way back towards the audition room quickly, not looking back at him. Now it was Kurt's time to chase after him, trying to keep up with Sebastian's pace, meeting him by the door. Kurt could tell that he wanted to get it over with just as much as he did.

"Hey, guys. Good to see you again." Max said, not looking up from his phone for a moment. When he set it down, he gave them a big, toothy smile, his perfectly white, crooked teeth on display. It was a weird combination, and Kurt found himself wandering what kind of fucked up dentist he went to.

"Now, you're probably wondering why we called you back here," he said, and both the boys nodded. "Well, we have pretty much all of the girls we want to see during the last part, and all we need is the boys. We've almost narrowed it down, but we want to give you guys a few more scenes to read." he explained.

Kurt nodded excitedly, smiling at him. This must have meant that they were really considering him. Well, both of them, but he wasn't going to let the thought of the possibility of Sebastian being cast bring him down. Kurt was going to step up his game, and kick some ass no matter what happened.

"So, we're going to go through the rest of the scenes as promised, to humor the others, and then we'll let them go, and announce who all we want to see," he continued, as his assistant director grabbed two papers from the stack, holding them out for Kurt and Sebastian to take.

"First, we need you to do 'Nocturne' for us: the scene right after the party where CB kisses Beethoven in front of everyone. Then we'll figure out where to go from there," The boys took the scenes, and nodded in response. "Start when you're ready." Max said, still smiling at them.

Kurt and Sebastian stepped away from the table, reading over the scene, which was much shorter than the others. But it carried so much with it, with Beethoven feeling used. And feeling like he could never go back to school, being so afraid of what was about to come his way. And if he knew Sebastian at all other than the fact that all he did was find random hookups and try to ruin other people's relationships, he would say that he was just like CB in that moment. So clueless, so stupid, and always letting passion and lust take over in the end.

After a few minutes of silence, Sebastian looked over at Kurt for consent to start the scene. He gave him a nod, then looked over at the director to silently let him know that they were starting. This time, they just stood where they were, instead of entering anywhere.

The moment Sebastian opened his mouth to say his line, everything went downhill. For some reason, Sebastian suddenly lost all of his acting ability. Kurt did everything he could to play off of him, or get any kind of reaction other than indifferent, but it didn't work. They muddled through it, and when it was time for Kurt to kiss him at the end, Sebastian didn't kiss back.

He pulled back quickly, as the director stared at them, looking disappointed. "Uh, good job guys. We'll let you do the rest of your scenes, and then we'll let you know." he said, managing a small smile. Kurt gave him a nod, trying not to scream as he handed his script back to the assistant director, feeling utterly humiliated.

As soon as they got out of the audition room, and far enough away from everyone else, though… Kurt snapped.

"What the fuck was that?!" he exclaimed, not noticing when a few people around them looked in their direction. Sebastian just shrugged, either not noticing people's eyes on them, or not caring. Obviously he just didn't give a fuck about anything at this point, or he would have actually put some effort into the scene.

"Do you even _want_ to be in this show? Are you serious about this?" he asked, getting another shrug in response. Kurt let out a huff, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"I just… I don't understand! How can you just… not do anything?" he asked, clenching his fists, fuming. They had come so far, and done so well. The director even said that they were considering them for the parts, so how could Sebastian not even try to impress him even more?

"I wasn't feeling it." Sebastian replied simply, crossing his arms over his chest. Kurt looked at him, giving him his best 'what-the-fuck' face. "You… you…" he choked out, using every ounce of strength in him not to strangle him, wishing this had happened before so he could channel the anger he had for him in this moment in the scene.

"You could have pretended!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. "You can act, Sebastian! You could have pretended for like, five minutes, that you didn't hate me, or whatever the fuck that was!" he yelled, many eyes on him now. Suddenly, Rachel was by his side, taking his arm.

"Kurt,_ please_," she pleaded quietly. "People are staring." she said, even though it wasn't even her problem. People weren't staring at her, or judging her. Her scene partner didn't make her look like an idiot in front of the director, putting her chance of getting in the show in jeopardy. Kurt ignored her, focusing on making Sebastian feel bad for what he did. But apparently, he never showed any shame.

"You made me look like an idiot!" Kurt yelled, and for a split second, he could see regret flash over Sebastian's face. But he blinked, and it was gone. Again, he looked indifferent… bored, even. Suddenly, Rachel was tugging at his arm, and he let out a defeated sigh as he let her drag him away.

Rachel moved them over to a table far away from everyone else, and sat him down. She went off and told him something, but he wasn't listening. He just blocked out all the noise around him as he tried to calm down, telling himself that everything would be okay, not really convincing himself. When she returned, she had a bottle of water, and two pills. Without question, Kurt took them, downing them easily. He took large sips of water to soothe his scratchy throat, willing himself not to cry.

Usually, in this situation, Rachel would ask what was going on and ask hundreds of questions when he really didn't feel like talking to anyone. But this time, she stayed silent, and for that, Kurt was thankful. They stayed like that for however long, until Shannon came over to their table, offering him a sympathetic smile. It looked like she had given people that same smile hundreds of time, apologizing for her brother's behavior, and in that moment he felt kind of bad for her.

"Hey, Kurt," she said, her voice soft and soothing. "The director wants you to come in and do 'Mal Di Luna' now," Kurt wracked his brain for which scene it was, and who he was supposed to be doing it with. He remembered that it was Beethoven's last scene in the play, and arguably the most heartbreaking one, and he really hoped he didn't have to do it with Sebastian.

"With who?" he asked, hoping it was people he could stand that weren't awful actors. "Victor and… Sebastian." she said, bracing herself for him to throw a fit or something. But Kurt just sighed, and got up, attempting to give her a small smile.

"Alright." he murmured, following Shannon over to where Victor and Sebastian were already waiting, blatantly flirting. Kurt walked up to them with his head held high, not letting anything bother him. He was just going to do the scene to the best of his ability, and ignore everything else.

"You ready, boys?" he asked, cocking his hip. The other two smirked at him, and nodded. "Ladies first," Sebastian murmured, motioning for Kurt to go before him. He shook it off, and strode on into the room once again.

"Alright, guys. Take a script from Cathy here," he said, gesturing towards the previously nameless assistant director, as he got up. "And I'll tell you who you're going to read for when I get back. Just read over it for the time being," he said, standing up, adjusting his pants. They grabbed their sides from the woman, who gave Kurt an especially warm smile. "Duty calls." Max said with a chuckle as he walked out to go do his business.

Once he was out of the room, Kurt sat down on the piano bench and started scanning the page. Reading it over again brought back all of the emotions he had reading it the first time, and he forced himself not to cry. He glanced up at the others, who were leaning against the wall, reading their scripts, begging to whatever deity there could possibly ever be that Sebastian didn't play his CB. He didn't care if he played Matt, he would actually be good at playing the bully. He didn't have to play off of Matt as much as he did for CB, assuming the director let him read for Beethoven.

After a few moments, the director was back, and sitting in his seat. He smiled at the trio, and looked down at his clipboard, that was all a mystery to the actors. They never knew what he was writing down, and they never would. They'd all have ideas depending on if they were cast or not, but no one knew if he decided to doodles all over the page, or wrote notes about their outfit and how it made them look. It was a never ending cycle of not knowing in the theatre world, he noticed.

"So, Victor, I'd like you to read for Matt, and Sebastian for CB," he said, looking back up at them with a smile. Not a big, toothy smile like before, but a more polite one. The two nodded, and turned the pages so that they were at the beginning of the scene, while Kurt suppressed a groan. He told himself to just suck it up, and get it over with. "Kurt, you know who you are." Max said, flashing him a wink, and damn a lot of people had been winking at him today.

Kurt got himself situated at the piano while he prompted them to start whenever they were ready. He started playing 'Heart and Soul' to start the scene, smiling to himself. Sebastian walked over to him, smiling.

"I brought you lunch," he said, miming opening a bag, pulling food out of it and putting it on the piano. Kurt stopped playing, and gave him a look of despair and frustration. Beethoven was clearly still upset at CB for kissing him in front of everyone at the party, but Kurt was upset for a ton of different reasons. "Hey," Sebastian said, trying to be optimistic, giving him a small smile. "We made it halfway through the day and I only got called a queer three times."

"That's because people are scared you'll beat them up." Kurt pointed out, rolling his eyes.

"Don't worry. I've already started spreading the word that if they mess with my _boyfriend_, I'll be kicking some ass." he said, his smile growing as he pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Kurt resisted the urge to smack him and tell him not to mess with his hair, but he had to stay in character.

"Your boyfriend?" Kurt asked, surprised. But it wasn't a good kind of surprised, like CB was expecting. Sebastian's smile fell a little as he sat down on the chair next to the piano.

"Well, I thought the other night sort of sealed the deal," he said, shrugging.

"Slow down, CB." he said, frowning.

"Why?" Sebastian asked, clearly clueless.

"Because I don't want a boyfriend." Kurt replied, saying it like he had told him that hundreds of times already, and that it should be common knowledge to the other boy.

"Nonsense!" he exclaimed, still with his happy-go-lucky attitude.

"We shared a moment." Kurt said, mostly to remind himself. Sebastian let out a chuckle, rolling his eyes fondly.

"We shared more than that." he pointed out, as Kurt scrubbed a hand over his face.

"This can't happen." he said, a little bit louder than he should, motioning between them.

"What can't?" Sebastian asked, still stupidly clueless. Kurt never really thought that one could actually be blinded by love, but apparently, CB was.

"We can't just start a relationship," Kurt explained, pinching the skin on the bridge of his nose. "I mean, you've gotta be a little more realistic."

"Give people time, they'll get used to the idea." Sebastian said, with absolute certainty. Kurt shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows.

"How can I expect 'people' to get used to the idea when I'm not used to the idea?!" he asked, but Sebastian didn't flinch. He hardly missed a bit as he gave him a big, goofy, adorable smile.

"I'm falling in love with you." Sebastian said, his voice quiet. Kurt felt his heart skip a beat for a moment, and his stomach swooped. He couldn't help but blush before he snapped right back to reality.

"This is retarded." he muttered, turning away from Sebastian, scrubbing a hand over his face again. Sebastian didn't seem all too disturbed or upset as he stood up, looking through his imaginary bag of food

"Do you like yogurt?" he asked all of a sudden, pulling out the imaginary carton. Kurt glanced at him, and raised an eyebrow at him.

"No." Kurt replied, still perturbed, but glad for a change in subject.

"Shit. Neither do I. I was hoping you'd want it," he said with a chuckle, then grabbed two imaginary sandwich bags, holding them up in front of him. "Ham or bologna?" he asked, showing him which one was which.

"CB, I really need to practice." was all Kurt said in response, turning back to the piano, his fingers hovering over the keys.

"You really need to eat." Sebastian said.

"I'm in the fucking 'Twilight Zone'." Kurt murmured to himself, like he couldn't believe this was really happening.

"Ham it is." Sebastian said, setting the invisible bologna sandwich down.

"CB! Just stop! Okay?" he yelled, starting to lose it. "This isn't what I want." Sebastian's eyes widened.

"What's the problem?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"_This_ is the problem!" Kurt exclaimed, standing up, looking straight into Sebastian's eyes. He was tired, and fed up, and he knew that Beethoven was too. "I'm a little stressed out right now and I'm trying to calm my nerves by playing the piano," he explained desperately, pointing at the piano. "And… and you're turning into Donna Reeds right before my eyes!"

"Who?" Sebastian asked, cocking his head to the side innocently.

"Nevermind," he muttered with a huff, biting his lip. "Look. The other night was… it was great, but let's just call it one of those things. You go back to being yourself and I'll even let you hit me now and then for old time's sake," he practically begged, slumping back down onto the bench. "This is just too weird." he murmured, running a hand through his hair without thinking. Sebastian let out a sigh, and after a moment, sat back down next to him. Kurt flinched a little, scooting away some, not looking at him.

"Remember the day when I asked if you were gay and you said you didn't know?" Sebastian asked, not even waiting for Kurt to answer. "You'd never been with a man before. Well… now you have," he said gently, putting a hand on his arm. "So, what the verdict?" Kurt let out a sigh, and shook his head, glancing over at him.

"I don't know. I'm trying not to think about the other night." he replied with a shrug, looking back down at the keyboard.

"I can't think about anything else." Sebastian said, dreamily. He licked his lips, before leaning in, pressing kisses to his neck. Kurt bit his lip and almost immediately pulled away, getting up off of the bench, wrapping his arms around himself. He looked over at Sebastian, and could see the disappointment on his face, and it made him feel really bad, even know he knew that he hadn't actually done anything to hurt him. An awkward silence came over them as Sebastian kept looking at Kurt, and Kurt looked away.

"Fine," Sebastian said, breaking the silence. "I'll leave you alone." He got up, putting the invisible lunch back into the sack.

"Thank you." Kurt murmured gratefully, giving him a nod.

"But… eat something," Sebastian said, giving him a small smile. "You're too skinny." he added with a chuckle.

"Fine," Kurt murmured, as Sebastian pretended to grab his backpack and sling it over to his shoulders, starting to exit. "Give me time," he said, watching as Sebastian smiled and nodded before walking off. When the coast was clear, Kurt allowed himself to smile, sitting back down at the piano. "Oh my God." he whispered, unable to wipe a grin from his face as he started to play.

It wasn't long before Victor came strolling in, pretending to be Matt. The second half of the scene, wasn't very good. Victor wasn't very intimidating, and Kurt learned that he really did have to play off of Matt more than CB, and he really wished there was more to work with. Once the scene was over, the director was still scribbling notes down on his mysterious clipboard. He looked up after a few moments, smiling at them.

"Great job, guys. Now, can we do it again, and have Victor play CB, and Sebastian play Matt?" he asked, and of course, no one objected. Kurt wasn't quite sure what to expect this time around, since he had never seen Sebastian play Matt. But he held on to a hope that he could do it, so that he could have something to play off of, and so maybe he could get the part and not play CB.

So, they started the scene over again, and again, Kurt was able to compare Victor's performance to Sebastian's. And again, it wasn't as good, and the kisses to his neck were much wetter. The more that part of the scene progressed, he was actually looking forward to what was about to happen next, even though it was crazily heart wrenching.

Victor finally exited, and Kurt tried to contain his excitement as he started to play 'Heart and Soul' again, grinning like mad. That is, until Matt comes in. Kurt continued to play, humming along to it as Sebastian stood and watched him.

"Hey there, Liberace." Sebastian said, pulling Kurt out of his trance. He jumped a little when he heard the voice, and stopped playing. He turned around towards him, as he walked closer.

"You're n-not supposed to be in here." Kurt stammered, terrified. He figured that since CB and Matt were basically inseparable, he had been one of Beethoven's main bullies, and probably the worst.

"Where's your boyfriend?" he asked condescendingly as he walked even closer towards him.

"He… he's not my boyfriend," he said defensively, shaking his head. "I didn't have anything to do with what happened last night." Kurt added, almost pleadingly.

"You sort of did, actually." Sebastian said, putting his hands on the piano, leaning closer to him. Kurt flinched, biting his lip as he looked away.

"Just… just leave me alone, okay? I didn't do anything." Kurt assured, looking down at the keys, swallowing thickly. Sebastian just smirked, leaning in closer, making Kurt very uncomfortable, and frankly, kind of scared.

"Play something." Sebastian commanded, but Kurt did nothing. He was frozen in place, unable to do anything. He figured that if he ignored him, he'd go away. Instead, Sebastian grabbed his hands, and smashed them down on the keyboard, making a loud, dissonant noise. Kurt let out a shaky sigh, moving his fingers to the right keys to start playing Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata', which he knew by heart. Kurt played a few measures, before Sebastian started talking again, looking off into space, only occasionally looking down at his script.

"So, are you two, like, a couple now?" he asked, chuckling just slightly. Kurt didn't answer, just looking down at the keys, praying that he would just go away. "Are you going to parade around the halls holding hands? Go to prom together?" Sebastian asked, chuckling again, his face quickly falling. Soon, he was leaning even closer, waiting a few beats to ask the question that was really on his mind.

"Did you have sex with him?" Sebastian asked, his voice quiet. This prompted Kurt to stop playing, swallowing the lump that was starting to form in his throat, feeling tears threatening to spill. He glanced up at Sebastian, seeing him trying to hold back his own tears, or anger at least. "Keep playing." he muttered, but Kurt did nothing.

Sebastian then reached out, and put a hand on his shoulder, putting his script on the piano. It wasn't a comforting hand, it was threatening. It kneaded into his skin, and Kurt tensed as he moved his other hand to the other shoulder, squeezing them. Kurt started playing again, hunching forward, trying to get as far away from Sebastian as possible. But Sebastian just moved in closer, his breath hot in Kurt's ear as he looked past him at the script that Kurt had propped up on the music stand.

"Can't you people just keep it hidden?" he asked, his voice catching. "Instead of throwing it in our faces?" he asked. It was in that moment that Beethoven realized Matt's secret, the reason he was doing all of this. He was in love with CB. He tried to look back at Sebastian, but he just nudged him forward, back towards the piano. Sebastian the grabbed Kurt's hair, and used it to pull his face aside, making him stop playing. He let out a little whine, as Sebastian leaned close, pressing his face against Kurt's.

"CB is not like you. And if you so much as look at him again," he said, pausing for dramatic effect as he let out a malicious chuckle. "I'll kill you." he whispered, tugging at his hair harder. "You got that, perv?" he asked, then shoved him. Kurt sniffled, breathing heavily as Sebastian was starting to leave.

"No." Kurt choked out, his vision blurry with unshed tears.

Sebastian stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" he asked, then turned back to him, sauntering back over to the piano. "What did you just say?" Kurt was still breathing heavily, genuinely terrified for the next part. He remembered all the times that he had stood up to his old bullies in high school, and how he had been caused tremendous pain and suffering afterwards.

"I said no… Pigpen." he muttered, almost not saying it because he really didn't want this to happen. But, as soon as Matt's old childhood nickname was brought up, he snapped. The director had cut them off there last time, but this time, he was watching with anticipation, and Sebastian kept going. He covered Kurt's mouth forcefully, and he finally felt the tears fall when Sebastian pretended to smash his hands with the keyboard cover, instead opting to slapping them down against the piano.

Kurt let out a few cries, muffled by Sebastian's hand as he did it, feeling his heart clench painfully in his chest, memories of being slammed against lockers, thrown into dumpsters, scars, blood, bruises, and hospital visits flashing across his mind. It was extremely hard to handle just that, but he couldn't imagine never being able to do what he loved again because of something like that. Eventually, Sebastian stopped, and ran off, leaving Kurt to sit and sob over his 'broken' hands, which would never play piano again.

The room was silent for a good minute after that, except for the sound of Kurt's sniffles and choked sobs as he cradled his hands. Everyone in the room seemed to be staring at him, and he felt so overwhelmed, and it felt like he couldn't breathe and that everything was crashing down around him and next thing he knew he was running out of the room. Then his head was in the toilet as he puked, and cried, and the snot mixed with the tears and the puke and he was just exhausted.

Kurt was trying to catch his breath when he heard the door open. He tried to lift his head to see who it was, but when he did, it immediately fell back against the porcelain, feeling heavy. Soon, a figure was kneeling down beside him, rubbing his back.

He let his eyes slip closed as the person held him against their chest, flushing the toilet before rocking him back and forth. Kurt started crying again, and the person shushed him. It wasn't long before he started to fall asleep to the sound of someone humming 'Heart and Soul'.


End file.
